"A trip to Paris inspired me to study sculpture. Since that time, I have studied with Don Gale, Terry O’Donnell at El Camino College, Martine Vaugel Sculpture Studio in the Loire Valley, Robert Cunningham at the Robert Cunnungham Studio in Culver City, now known as The Teale Street Sculpture Studio, where I am currently studying."

1 a : a joint or juncture between bones or cartilages in the skeleton of a vertebrate b : a movable joint between rigid parts of an animal
2 a : the action or manner of jointing or interrelating b : the state of being jointed or interrelated
3 a : the act of giving utterance or expression b : the act or manner of articulating sounds c : an articulated utterance or sound

In my desire to articulate the poetry of anatomy, there is a rhythm & harmony I am seeking to capture. Something attracts me in the arrangement of forms in the model’s gesture or pose. It might be the relationship between the curve of an eyebrow and the angle of a jutting hip. That might suggest a mood or an emotion, a line of poetry might float into my consciousness and I will weave it into the mix. Then there's the tension of trapping movement and assigning it time and space. Dance is a major source of inspiration - for its expression of essence: of muscular strength, poetry, emotion, music, grace, movement, beauty. It's fleeting in nature and demands aligning the senses and being in the present moment. Sometimes it is gravity-defying. I see in it an expression of hope and potential to achieve the highest aspirations. In a basketball game I see a ballet. The dancer is, for me, the embodiment of the human form divine (Blake) and the body electric (Whitman).

LINKS & QUOTES

"Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself." (Havelock Ellis)

"Dancing is the body made poetic." (Ernst Bacon)

“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.”

Labour is blossoming or dancing where
The body is not bruised to pleasure soul.
Nor beauty born out of its own despair,
Nor blear-eyed wisdom out of midnight oil.
O chestnut-tree, great-rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?
(WB Yeats)

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.” (Martha Graham)

“While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. That is why I dance.” (Hans Bos)

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body. (Martha Graham)

By means of the creative idea, the art of sculpture animates the inanimate raw material, giving it a form and life that evoke responses in the viewer. It is this breathing of life into earth and water, and transforming it into a thing of beauty and a joy forever which intrigues and inspires me.
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